New Whisky Galore film has some vintage performances

As the new Whisky Galore film arrives in cinemas, we take you behind the scenes to find out all about the vehicles Home Guard commander Eddie Izzard and the rest of the cast used in the remake of this classic comedy.

THERE can be nothing more daunting than an enraged Eddie Izzard behind the wheel of your beloved classic car.

As Captain Paul Waggett in the remake of Whisky Galore, Izzard took on the frustration of the Home Guard commander and sent the 1938 Flying Standard 12 hurtling along the roads of the mythical island of Todday.

Jerry Organ, who had sourced the car for the film, was standing beside the owner as Izzard tried in vain to hunt down the islanders, throwing the car along narrow clifftop roads.

“Yes, he was supposed to be giving it a bit of a lash,” admitted Jerry. “The owner was very good and he understood what it was we were trying to do and allowed us to do it.

“Eddie was marvellous. He had a bit of a practice a few hours beforehand and then no problems. There is a mechanic with the cars at all times in case anything happens, especially to period cars.

The 1938 Flying Standard 12 in Whisky Galore

“They can be a bit difficult and temperamental, and you can get cars that have the clutch and accelerator and brake swapped around, so it can be quite tricky in an emergency if you hit the wrong pedal.

“But this time everything was marvellous.”

Part of Jerry’s job is to source cars for films, matching the personality of the car to the character onscreen.

Izzard plays the thwarted Englishman who finds himself in charge of the Home Guard on Todday during World War II.

Too young for World War I and too old to fight in the second, he is trying to prove himself as an action man in an area where there is no imminent danger among islanders who really don’t care.

The 1938 Flying Standard 12 in Whisky Galore

Their only objection to the war is the effect it has had on whisky supplies – they have run out – and when a ship founders on the island rocks fully laden with cases meant for export, they see it as a sign that it should be theirs.

But Waggett sees it as his duty to find the whisky and hand it over to Customs and Excise.

The original film, released in black and white in 1949, was a huge hit and now the remake in full colour with a script by Peter McDougall and directed by Gillies Mackinnon opens today in cinemas in Scotland.

Izzard is an enlightened choice by the film makers as the Engishman come north to keep the natives in line and he is in full spate in the chase scenes, when he tries to hunt them down as they move the whisky from place to place in a 1950 Bedford O Series.

Jerry said:“The interesting thing about that truck was that it was immaculate and we had to distress it to make it look a bit older and more used than it was.

The 1950 Bedford O Series in Whisky Galore

“The owner was very good about that and then we reinstated it again afterwards of course.”

He went on: “It belongs to a gentleman in Perthshire who stayed with it and in fact drove it during the filming so he got a part in the movie, too.”

The third vehicle in the movie is a beautiful 1948 Alvis DHC which belongs to the doctor – a man who refuses to take Waggett seriously, especially when he comes across him building a road block on the island’s only circular road.

The original 1949 version of Whisky Galore was filmed on Eriskay and Barra and the nature of the islands doubled the movie’s running costs.

This time, with even more equipment and crew to transport, much of the filming and the chase scenes were done in Portsoy, Banffshire, and St Abbs, Berwickshire.

The 1948 Alvis DHC in Whisky Galore

Other locations included St Monans, in Fife, Loch Thom, in Renfrewshire, and Geilston House, Luss village hall and the Central Bar in Renton, all in Dunbartonshire.

The true story behind humorous tale

THE original Whisky Galore film was inspired by the 1947 novel by Sir Compton Mackenzie, which was based on a true story.

The SS Politician was grounded off the island of Eriskay in the Outer Hebrides in February 1941 on its way to America with 264,000 bottles of whisky on board.

Whisky had come into short supply during World War II after several distilleries had been hit by German bombs and the Government had decided to sell what they could rather than lose it in the blitz.

The 1938 Flying Standard 12 in Whisky Galore

Sir Compton Mackenzie turned this basic premise into a gentle novel full of Herbidean humour and the classic tale of the small man taking on the might of the establishment.

The islanders managed to “liberate” about 24,000 bottles of the amber nectar as the police and the excisemen chased them around the island and there are still bottles believed to be buried on nearby Barra to this day.

Authorites were very heavy-handed in their repsonse to the islanders’ exploits and 13 were arrested, some jailed and others had their boats confiscated.

The oldest man punished was 84 and rumour has it his pension was suspended.

The SS Politician is also said to have carried the modern-day equivalent of £20million in Jamaican dollars so that if Hitler invaded Britain, a safe haven could be found for the Royal Family in Jamaica and there were rumours of gold on board, too.